Ilia Topuria is adding infrared neurostimulation to his UFC Freedom 250 fight camp before his June 14 lightweight title fight with Justin Gaethje at the White House in Washington, D.C.
Topuria showed the device in his latest Road To The White House vlog. The unbeaten UFC lightweight champion wore headgear connected near his nose while explaining that he uses it for focus, recovery, and sleep during camp.
“This is neurostimulation with infrared light and serves for various things, to improve focus, for mental recovery, to improve sleep,” Topuria said in the vlog. “What I notice most is the focus before training. It’s like not even 100 coffees match the effects of this. Like super focused.”
Watch the vlog below:
Topuria Says The Device Looks Strange But Helps His Camp
Topuria did not dodge how unusual the setup looks. He said the device has been part of his preparation before and that he uses it for short sessions.
“I’ve used it in all my camps,” Topuria said. “It’s always worked very well for me. Yeah it’s true, it looks really weird, but it’s amazing. It’s 15 minutes that I have to be here. The only bad thing is that if they take a photo of you with this and publish it somewhere, you’ve got to pay a price for the good things sometimes.”
Fan reaction was split. Some mocked the gear, including one commenter who wrote that Topuria was “doing all this just to get slept.” Others defended the routine as another example of a champion investing in recovery and performance before a major title fight.
The matchup is already big enough without the gadget talk. Topuria is 17-0, a former UFC featherweight champion, and the current UFC lightweight champion. Gaethje is 27-5, the interim lightweight champion, and one of the most dangerous pressure fighters in the division.
Topuria vs. Gaethje headlines UFC Freedom 250, while Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane is listed as the interim heavyweight title co-main event. The buildup has already pulled in plenty of noise, including Alexander Volkanovski picking Topuria to knock out Gaethje and Gaethje saying he wants to drag Topuria into a dog fight.
The device will not decide the fight once Gaethje starts throwing heat, but Topuria clearly believes it helps with the small parts of camp. For a five-round title fight at UFC Freedom 250, recovery, focus, and sleep are all pieces he is trying to control before the cage door closes.
